This invention relates to decontamination of radioactive materials and in particular, to an apparatus using freshly filtered high pressure Freon solvent in an integrated closed loop circuit to remove radioactive particles or other contaminants from articles having a long cylindrical geometry such as hoses, cables, extension cords, pipes, electrical conduit, chains and other objects.
The nuclear power industry generates large quantities of tools, parts, hoses, pipes and maintenance materials that become radioactively contaminated during the normal course of their use. Those parts and materials which can be decontaminated by surface scrubbing and cleaning have been and are now being cleaned by a combination of scrubbing and high pressure water washing with a detergent. Hose and pipe and other work pieces having a long cylindrical geometry are particularly difficult to clean with current methods because of the surface geometry and length. As a result, an inordinate amount of time is expended in efforts to clean such elongate articles. In fact, it is frequently found to be less expensive to merely expend the part and resplace it than to try to decontaminate it.
The present invention is directed to the alleviation of these problems and provides an apparatus for the cleaning of radioactively contaminated pipe and hose and other materials having a long cylindrical geometry. There is here disclosed an apparatus which effectively decontaminates elongate articles quickly and inexpensively. Further, there is disclosed a method for decontaminating elongate articles with minimal potential operator time and experience.